Snake Shyam

[5][10] Shyam is also known for his personal flamboyance and has been described by The Hindu as "easily the most recognisable characters [sic] of Mysore, complete with his sun hat, overflowing beads and multiple rings that adorn his fingers".

By profession, Shyam was a driver, transporting children to school, but beginning in 1982 he began to be frequently called upon to retrieve snakes that had encroached on people's properties, a job for which he receives no pay.

[5][11] Called multiple times each day, Shyam uses a pillowcase and a badminton racquet without strings to net the snakes, which he then releases into the forest.

[3] Though Shyam has only been bitten four times in his rescue work,[3] he has developed an allergy to antivenin, which requires that he exercise great care in handling snakes.

[8] His knowledge of snakes—he can identify 28-30 local species of snakes—is founded on personal experience, but supplemented by reading the works of or speaking to professionals such as Romulus Whitaker, J.C. Daniel and faculty at Mysore University.

The road named after Snake Shyam by the Mysore City Corporation
Snake Shyam (in red shirt) with the local people after a 'snake encounter'